A Different Set of Wings
by Clarce
Summary: AU. When Jarvan II broke Xin Zhao out of the Noxian arena, no one expected a little boy to be brought during their escape. Not knowing what else to do, the young boy is brought with them. How can this small change ripple throughout Valoran's history? This is Talon if he didn't grow up in Noxus. Pairing (if any) undecided
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, my name is Clarce. This will be my foray into Fanfiction. Not sure if League of Legends is the first place to go. I may do another one as the same time as this story, but I digress. This is the story that came into my head for a while. Not sure if anyone has done this before but this is an AU where a single change in lore occurred. A change that alters many people's lives forever.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own League of Legends or it's characters. They are owned by Riot.**

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Jarvan II was standing in a group of his men and was perplexed. Earlier that day, he and a troop of Demacian soldiers had raided the city state of Noxus, Demacia's eternal rival and enemy. They did this in order to free a man by the name of Viscero from within the coliseum of the city. They attacked the populace and had freed not only Viscero but all of those captured within the coliseum as well. Now that they were on the track back towards Demacia, they finally noticed something odd.

Standing in front of the now aging king was a young boy, who looked no older than five years old. He had a raven's nest of brown hair. The youth wore brown shirt filled with holes, and his shorts fared no better. His feet were bare of any footwear and was seemingly playing with the forest soil. His eyes were a shade of brown that in a certain light, it was seemed as if it were red. From the look of his physique, he was very malnourished. Far too thin for a boy his age should be. Not only that, but he was ridiculously filthy. Dirt and grime were all over him, and he reeked, as if he had not bathed in a month.

The king of Demacia, who was now scratching his grey beard, stared harder at the boy who was looking at everyone else with caution in his eyes and a bit of wonder. He was staring around him as if everything was new to him. From the trees, to the dirt, to the armor of the soldiers and even to the king himself. The boy's eyes seemed to travel quickly and with interest. This made Jarvan smile a little bit. His grandson, Jarvan IV, who was also about the boy's age had the same look in his face every time he went to the barrack's and training fields for a visit.

The interest in the boy's eyes seemed to disappear when a man would try to approach him. Those eyes that seemed to shift colors would train on the soldier who would take a step near him. His body would tense as if he would run the moment someone got closer to him. The boy would lean towards a certain direction, usually away from the soldier who got closer. Huh, that gave Jarvan a thought. The king noticed that the boy would lean towards a section with less soldiers, a place with a better chance of escape. Why would a child need to know that?

"My liege," a soldier called out. Jarvan II turn towards the soldier who spoke, but was also looking at the child. "What are we to do with the boy?"

"My question is how did he get here?" the king asked back. None of the men spoke up at the statement. They didn't know where this boy came from, let alone how he got here.

"That would be my doing, my king," a man proclaimed as he walked towards the aging king. Jarvan looked the man up and down as he approached. He had long brown hair done in a pony tail. A large metal pauldron was attached to his left shoulder, with a metal bracer equipped on that arm as well. Around his waist was a red leather tasset was around his waist, and underneath it the sovereign could see some chain mail. Adorning the man's feet were silver grieves. He was holding a spiked helmet under his left arm, and a three pronged pike in his right. "I am sorry I did not inform you my king."

"Viscero..."

"Please, call me Xin Zhao," the man insisted. "I would rather not use that slave name anymore."

"Very well, Xin Zhao, tell me why this boy is here," Jarvan inquired.

"He fell in our path during our escape through the slums of Noxus my king." The young man turned toward the only child in the clearing. "I picked him up, afraid that he would be crushed as we ran from the city." Xin Zhao then gave a sheepish smile to his savior. "I forgot I had him in my arms until after we stopped." This caused Jarvan II to chuckle.

"You forgot he was in your arms?"

"We were preoccupied with running my king." Jarvan nodded.

"Very true." He too then turned towards the young boy, who still seemed to be on high alert. "Seeing as you were the one that saved him, you will be in charge of what we do with the young man Xin Zhao." This caused the warrior to blink.

"Um...Excuse me sir? What do you mean by that?" he confusedly asked.

"You get to decide what we do with the young child over there," Jarvan stated as he pointed at the boy. "Whether we leave him in the next city, bring him with us all the way back to Demacia or just leave him here in the woods, the choice is yours." Patting him on his shoulder, the king strode of to speak to his men to see if they were ready to move.

Xin Zhao was now left dumbfounded. He was staring at the boy who kept looking around him and was unsure of what to do. Deciding he might as well introduced himself to the boy, the ex-gladiator walked toward his new charge. As he approached, people made way for him and were greeting him. When he just a few feet away from the boy, he saw the boy lock onto him. Dark brown meet hazel as they stared at each other and Xin Zhao finally made it in front of the boy. The two stood in silence as they stared at one another, and a few other soldiers were watching them as well. To their surprise it was the boy who broke the silence.

"You're the Viscero," the boy said almost monotonously. Xin Zhao could hear awe in the boy's voice. "You survived the Fleshing even with three hundred warriors." That made the man look at the boy with a curious look. "I heard all about it from the gossipers within the slums. You're really strong."

"Thank you for thinking that. My real name is Xin Zhao, what is yours?" He got down on one knee and held his hand out to the boy to shake hands. The boy seemed to take a small step back when the hand came to him. "I'm not going to hurt you, young one." Still the boy looked at the hand warily. Sighing, Xin Zhao put his hand down. "You never answered my question. What is your name?" The boy was silent for a couple of seconds before speaking again.

"I don't have a name."

"You don't have a name? Didn't your parents name you?" The boy tilted his head to the side and frowned.

"I don't have parents either." This caused the man to flinch. He apparently picked up an orphan from the slums.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he replied. The boy shrugged as he heard the man's answer. Suddenly there was a noise and the boy held his stomach. "Are you hungry?" Looking sadly, the boy nodded. "How long has it since you've eaten?"

"A few moons ago," the boy answered still clutching his stomach. "I gave some of my food to a girl who needed it more." Xin Zhao was surprised to hear that. Noxus was a dog eat dog city. You had to fight to survive there. The fact that the boy gave some of the food he had, probably the only food he had, to another person was astounding. "I should not have given her the food." Thinking quickly, Xin Zhao asked another solider for some bread and water. When he got them, he gave the food to the boy. The boy seemed to devour the food instantly and was gulping the water at a rapid pace.

"You must have been really hungry huh?" The boy nodded again. The young on then seemed to take on a faraway look.

"I wonder if Kavyn is okay?" he said to himself. As the boy pondered what happened to his friend, Xin Zhao was also thinking of his answer to the king. What would he do with this boy? He didn't want to leave him on his own here in the forest. Putting him in an orphanage sounded like a good idea, but he didn't know where one would on the way back to Demacia. Maybe he should put the boy in one over there? Nodding to himself, Xin Zhao came to his conclusion.

"Boy," he stated getting the child's attention. "Would you like to come with us to Demacia?"

"Demacia?" he asked confusedly.

"Yes, we could put you in an orphanage there and you can find a good family to take you in." The boy still looked confused as to what was being said, but it sounded nice enough from what Xin Zhao was saying. Slowly nodding his head, still not completely getting the what was happening. "Very well. I shall tell the king." Again the boy nodded. When Xin Zhao left to look for Jarvan again, he took one look back and saw that he seemed ready to run again. To be honest, he was sure that during their entire talk the boy was ready to run too.

"He's not trust is he?" Xin Zhao muttered to himself. "Makes sense in where he was growing up. Well, once we get to be Demacia, he'll go to an orphanage and find a good home." The ex gladiator was sure of it.

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**Okay there is the first chapter of the story. I'll try to get a few chapters up as soon as possible.**

**Oh and the age range I see the characters as of this moment in this chapter.**

**Xin Zhao- 20**

**Talon, Kavyn- 5**

**Jarvan II- 65**


	2. Chapter 2

**I should really learn to double check my work, but I am so lazy.**

**Thanks for the support for the first chapter and I am happy to see that people actually read my story. Again I am trying to rush out as many chapters as possible before school starts on Monday. So I'll have chapter three up sometime tomorrow.**

**Also to the reviewer RussianHunter, while I did see that picture (it was pretty cute), I am not basing the interaction off of that. I had something else in mind for it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own League of Legends or its characters. It is owned by Riot.**

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Jarvan IV, youngest prince of Demacia and grandson of Jarvan II, was lost. The young man had ran away from the palace in order to get away from annoying teachers, his annoying parents, and that really annoying girl Lux who seemed to be following him for a few days now. So here he was now within a park he didn't know. He sat down on a bench and sighed.

Jarvan looked at his clothes and saw that they were wrinkled from all his running. His yellow shirt had many creases all over and his navy trousers were dirtied by bumping into several people and falling to the ground. The young boy frowned at this. Being a prince, Jarvan was used to having his clothes clean, so seeing them this badly dirtied was a new experience to him.

At that point, he leaned back and recalled his day, remembering why he really just wanted to get away. Jarvan was being tutored by one of the best teachers in all of Demacia that day and he was not getting what was being taught to him. He was sure mathematics would be important later on in his career as a prince and then a king, but what did it matter right now. Who cared if you take four apples and multiply it by another four that you get...

The prince scowled again, not knowing the answer to that problem. See that was the whole point! Who needed multiplication anyway! Then his teachers decided to talk slowly to him, as if he was dumb or something. He should have them imprisoned for talking down to a prince like that! Jarvan had stormed out of the room when he had enough of their talking down to him, deciding it was better to go get lunch at the time.

Then his parents kept asking questions about his day: if he learned anything new. if he had fun during class, if he needed a break from the school work for a few days. It was like the teacher told his parent's he was stupid! They usually don't ask those questions, and now on the day he walked out of tutoring they're suddenly interested in his studies. So after barely taking three bites his food, Jarvan excused himself and tried to find his best friend Garen Crownguard. Instead of finding him though, he ran into his best friend's annoying sister Lux! Mrs. Crownguard asked if he would look after her young child for a little bit. He didn't even get to answer when his own mother dragged the older woman away. So he was stuck with the annoying little girl.

She kept following him, trying to hold his hand, asking questions. The little girl would just not let him be! She even nearly followed him to the bathroom. If he didn't tell her it was wrong, she would have probably watched him his the toilet. When he came out, Jarvan thought he was free from her since she wasn't outside waiting at the door. But he was wrong, oh so very wrong. The blonde little devil was in his room, playing with his toys, touching his stuff. Having enough of all these annoying people that day he ran.

Jarvan, using a small opening he knew off within the palace walls, ran into the sprawling city. He bumped into people and was not really looking where he was going. After five minutes of running, the young prince found himself in his current situation. To be completely honest, the fact that no one was asking to shake his hand or give him praise. Although that probably was due to the fact that he wasn't wearing his crown at the moment.

He clutched his stomach after a moment. Having not eaten lunch was a big mistake. As he clutched his stomach and started thinking about what he would do for food, something suddenly hit his head. Letting out a yelp of pain, he glared at the offensive item. It was a shiny red apple. Looking around the empty park, Jarvan couldn't find anyone. "Who dares oppose me?" he shouted out loud. When no one answered him, the prince frowned harder. Who in all of Valoran was willing to hit him with a piece of fruit.

Picking up the apple, Jarvan sat down on the bench again and stared at it. And he kept on staring debating on whether or not to eat the fruit. It was dirty and it had hurt him were the obvious facts for not eating the apple, but he was hungry. After a couple more seconds, stood up and was about to throw the apple into a trash bin when something odd happened. "Are you stupid or something?" a boy's voice echoed into his ear. Suddenly there was one hand on the arm with an apple in it and a boy was in front of him. Jarvan's grey eyes looked up the arm to the owner.

It was a boy his age with messy brown hair that reached a little past his shoulders. He was wearing a red shirt with a purple vest over it and grey trousers. Leather boots were on his feet and there was a red handkerchief around his neck. The boy's dark brown eyes seemed to glow red as he glared at the prince. Using his free hand, the boy grabbed the apple and wiped it around his vest. "If someone gives you free food, you better eat it," the boy scolded him. He then returned his glare to Jarvan, and the young prince couldn't help but glare back. "Now eat." The boy was handing offering the apple to him once more.

"Why should I?" Jarvan asked defiantly. He then noticed that the boy was a couple inches shorter than himself.

"You are hungry, so eat," the boy stated the fact with a harder glare.

"I'm not hungry." Jarvan heard his stomach growl, and he was sure that the boy heard it too. He saw the boy raise an eyebrow at him. "I'm still not hungry. Besides do you know who I am?"

"It does not matter who you are. You are hungry and you are wasting perfectly good food. So be quiet and eat." That irritated Jarvan to no end. Who was this boy to tell him what to do? He was a prince! A prince could do what he pleases!

"I will not do as you say!" Jarvan shouted as he smacked the apple out of the boy's hand. It fell to the ground and he stomped on it. "There! Now I don't have to eat it!" Jarvan smirked. Suddenly, he felt an enormous amount of pain on his face. Falling onto his bottom, the future king touched his mouth and saw blood on his hand. Tears began to well up in his eyes. He looked up at his attacker and saw the younger boy still glaring at him. "Y-You punched me!"

"You wasted the food I was giving you. I punched you because you were stupid." His annoyance at everyone finally tipping over the edge, Jarvan stood up and tackled the other boy to the ground. he then punched him in the face as well.

"I am not stupid! I hate people keep thinking that! I am a prince! I am royalty! No one talks down to me!" With each shout he hit the boy. As he was about to go for another punch, the other boy threw dirt into his eyes, causing Jarvan to fall onto his side. Jarvan felt his side explode in pain as he tried to get the dirt out of his eyes. "Agh!"

"All you Demacian's are so stuck up it is annoying," the boy said as he kicked him again in the stomach. "You stick your noses up in the air when you do not see something you like and walk away. You talk about justice but you ignore those not so well off." The boy picked him up and punched him again in the chest. Finally getting his site back, Jarvan tried to retaliate only for the shorter boy to trip him. "It is almost as bad as the slums in Noxus, but at least there we knew that we were on our own. You try to lie about the comforts of a good life until a lot later."

"What are you talking about?" Jarvan asked as he stared at the boy looking down at him. The boy frowned.

"The orphanage here is bad. I have been in one for two years and no one even bats an eye towards me. So much for a good family," the boy muttered. "If the people who come in do not like you, they put on pretty smiles and tell you maybe, but eventually just choose another person. These nobles do all of that in front of your face." The boy spat onto the ground, Jarvan saw that there was some blood mixed with the spit. "While no person looks at me with any want seeing my background, other kids are left hopeful and are abandoned." The boy sighed, and Jarvan could see the anger leaving the boy. He took a seat next to the fallen prince and looked at the sky. "At least back in the slums I had one friend, here no one likes me."

"What are you saying?" Jarvan asked sitting up. He didn't attack the boy, seeing as he calmed down, but he was really confused by what he was saying.

"You mean you have not heard the rumors?"

"What rumors?" The boy gave an amused snort.

"I am an orphan at the Demacian Orphanage off the main street. I used to be a Noxian street rat until the day the King and Xin Zhao escaped. I was accidentally brought along for the ride."

"You're a Noxian!?" Jarvan shouted, scuttling back a little bit. The boy laughed a little bit.

"I said I use to be. Now I am just a Demacian orphan, although no one likes me." The prince watched as the boy moved his jaw. "You punch well. Far better than all the other boys within the orphanage."

"Thank you...I think." The two sat in an awkward silence until Jarvan's stomach growled. Again. This made the prince groan in pain. "I probably should have not broken that apple huh?" He then saw a small bag land in his lap. The boy wasn't looking at him, but the sky.

"I was saving that for myself, so I have something to eat until the whole day was over. It is visitation day at the orphanage, and seeing as no one wants me I thought it would be better to just be on my own a bit." The boy then turned to Jarvan. "I do not care how messed up those are at the moment. If they were crushed, it would be your fault for tackling me, but do not waste them." Jarvan looked inside the bag and saw a bunch of cookies, all of them crushed just like the boy said. With a grateful smile, Jarvan took one and bit in. It was chocolate chip, and while he preferred plain sugar cookies it helped ease his hunger. As he ate the boy, lay on the ground and stared at the clouds above them. It was when the young prince was done eating that the boy spoke again. "So, why were you so angry?"

Jarvan took a deep breath before speaking. "I just think that my teacher was talking to me as if I was stupid," he told the boy. The person next to him made a face, as if telling him to explain more. "I was having a hard time in my mathematics class and they were talking really slowly to me, like I was not right in the head or something. Then my parents kept asking me questions about my day, and they asked about the lesson. It was like the teacher said something to them. Then my best friend's mother asked if I could take care of his little sister for a little bit, but she followed me everywhere! It was really annoying. I ended up running out of the palace and found myself here."

"You do sound stupid right now," the boy chuckled. Jarvan gave him an offended look. He told this stranger his story and he just called him stupid. The boy, seeing his face, waved his hand as if trying to dissuade the prince. "I do not you are stupid like that. I mean, you are being over dramatic."

"Explain." The young boy rolled his eyes as he sat up, muttering something about 'stuck up nobles'.

"They just care for you and are worried. The fact that the teacher were explaining it slower, was so that you could understand the lesson at your pace. Your parents were just worried, for I am guessing, because you were mad at lunch. They were not trying to call you dumb, stupid, or anything of the sort." The boy then shrugged. "Although I am just saying this because it is similar to what the matron does to us when we are having troubles." Jarvan thought about it, and thought hard. Was what this boy was saying true? Were they really just being worried for him and were trying to help him. Deep down, the prince knew that this stranger was right and this made him feel bad. He was being mean to his parents and teacher for no reason.

"What about the whole deal with Lux?" This time the boy shrugged.

"I do not know. Girls are...strange." Again, Jarvan could agree with that.

"You're pretty smart for being around the same age as me."

"When you have no friends, too many bullies, you find yourself a lot of time to think." Standing up, dusted himself off and stared at the boy still sitting on the ground.

"My name is Jarvan Lightshield IV, prince of Demacia and its future king," he introduced himself holding his hand out to the boy. Said person looked at the hand for a few seconds, and Jarvan felt like embarrassed as he put his hand down.

"Well, I do not know my real name. The matron gave me one, I am not sure how I feel about it," the boy said not looking at him.

"Oh and what is that?"

"Aquila."

"Then it was nice meeting you Aquila." Aquila nodded his head and Jarvan turned around hoping to get back to the palace. That was when he saw the Xin Zhao, his grandfather's protector, as well as his own father heading towards them. As he turned to say goodbye to his new...acquaintance, Jarvan was surprised to see that he had somehow vanished within that instant.

"Your Majesty!" a young boy cried out. He had one a white shirt and a navy blue scarf with brown pants. He was the same height as Jarvan and was running faster than the former gladiator and his parent. When he arrived in front of the prince, he was tired and looked scared. "I'm so sorry my prince! If I had known my sister was going to make you run away, I would have not gone to the barracks with father!"

"It is alright Garren," Jarvan said with a smile. That was when Jarvan III reached him and hugged him. Xin Zhao was a couple of feet away and was watching the scene.

"Don't you ever run away like that again!" Jarvan III said as he embraced his son. "You had your mother, grandfather and myself worried. You even had Luxanna crying, because she was scared for you. I don't know what we did but I'm so sorry."

"It's alright father and I'm sorry as well. My anger got the better of me and clouded my judgment." The man hugged him for a few more seconds before releasing him. That was when he noticed that his son was bruised, had a cracked lip and was holding his side. It also looked like he was crying.

"What happened to you my liege!" Garren managed to shout before anyone else could react.

"Did someone hurt you?" his father asked.

"I got into a fight with another kid. He...beat me." The three other males saw the prince look away before looking back with some determination. "If I see him again, I'll win for sure."

"Come on let's take you home." The father, son and best friend trio started to leave the park. Xin Zhao was the last to leave as he was staring into a tree's branches. After a few seconds he followed the trio back to the palace.

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Back in the park, and within the branches of the tree Xin Zhao was looking at, Aquila sat with his back leaning against the trunk of the tree. His head turned towards the group, and eyes watching them. "So that was our prince," he mumbled to himself. "He better get stronger. I will not listen to a king who cannot even beat me." Looking up at the sky and seeing the sun's position Aquila sighed. Jumping down from the tree, he decided it was time to go back to that hell hole of an orphanage.

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**Not completely 100% sure this was believable in my eyes. I did this chapter partially drunk due family Canada coming over, but please leave a review and tell me what you thought of it.**

**Current Age of Characters**

**Jarvan, Talon (Aquila)- 7**

**Garren- 6**

**Lux- 5**

**Xin Zhao- 22**

**Jarvan III- 28**


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